Andy Abad
Fausto Andres "Andy" Abad (born August 25, 1972 in West Palm Beach, Florida) is a former professional baseball player. He is also known as "Tulile" in the Dominican Republic. Abad is of Cuban descent; his father escaped Cuba during the Fidel Castro revolution. Before being drafted, he graduated from Jupiter High School in Florida, and then attended Middle Georgia College. He resides in Jupiter, Florida. He is currently the hitting coach for the Low-A Yakima Bears in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Minor leagues, Japan The left-handed hitting and throwing Abad was drafted in the 16th round (443rd overall) in the amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox, who assigned him to the Gulf Coast Red Sox of the Gulf Coast League that year. In , Abad advanced to the Single-A Sarasota Red Sox, where he hit .288. He remained in Sarasota through part of , advancing to the Double-A Trenton Thunder for whom he hit .240. He was sent back down to Single-A Sarasota in , hit .287 for the Single-A team, and was again called up to Trenton, where he hit .277 with the Thunder. In , Abad only played 45 games, all with Trenton. He hit .303 that year, the first of multiple .300-plus seasons. In , Abad started out with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. He hit .307 with 16 home runs and stole 10 bases. The next season, he hit 15 home runs and again posted 10 steals. On October 15, 1999, Abad was released from his contract. Abad went overseas, and played in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in . Following the 2000 season, the Oakland Athletics signed him to a contract. He started with their Triple-A club, the Sacramento River Cats, where he had one of the best seasons of his minor league career, hitting .301 with 19 home runs. Abad hit .529 during the 2001 Pacific Coast League playoffs. After the season, Abad was granted free agency and later picked up by the Florida Marlins where he spent the season with their Triple-A affiliate, the Calgary Cannons. In , he signed, again, with Boston. He started out the season with Triple-A Pawtucket. While with Pawtucket, he hit .304 with 13 homers and made the International League All-Star team. Abad was picked up by Pittsburgh in . Abad hit .292 with 15 homers with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. He was then released, and subsequently signed by the Cleveland Indians. He played the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. During the season, he hit .293 with a career high 20 home runs and was voted the team co-MVP In the minors in with the Triple-A Louisville Bats, he hit .267 with 9 home runs. He was granted free agency and later signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in where he was assigned to the Nashville Sounds, for whom he hit .316 in 269 at-bats. Abad became a free agent at the end of the season. He signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Triple-A Mexican League for . After playing 30 games for the team, he was released in late April. He pitched in seven minor league games: one in 1994 and 1996, two in 2002, and one game in 2005, 2006, and 2007, with a 3.86 ERA in 10 innings pitched. He allowed 12 hits and two home runs, committed four errors, and had four strikeouts. Major league career Abad made his Major League Baseball debut in with the Oakland Athletics as a pinch hitter for Jeremy Giambi, resulting in a fly-out. This was his only plate appearance of the year. Abad returned to the big leagues in for a little more than a week with the Boston Red Sox. Appearing in 9 games (17 at-bats), he hit just .118. He was again granted free agency after the season. In , he was on the Cincinnati Reds opening day 25-man roster. In 5 games in the majors that year, he went 0 for 3, drawing two walks. Coaching career On December 3, , Abad was named the hitting coach for the Low-A Yakima Bears in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. References External links Category:American expatriate baseball people in Canada Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan Category:Boston Red Sox players Category:Calgary Cannons players Category:Cincinnati Reds players Category:American people of Cuban descent Category:Gulf Coast Red Sox players Category:Louisville Bats players Category:Major League Baseball first basemen Category:Baseball players from Florida Category:Nashville Sounds players Category:Oakland Athletics players Category:Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players Category:Pawtucket Red Sox players Category:People from Palm Beach, Florida Category:Sacramento River Cats players Category:Sarasota Red Sox players Category:Trenton Thunder players Category:1972 births Category:Living people